the story so far:
moqtada al sadr announced a six month cease-fire last year. the six months expired last month and he extended it for another six months. prime minister maliki, at the urging of the u.s., provoked a confrontation with sadr demanding that the mahdi army (sadr's militia) disarm. sadr refused, the iraqi army went after sadr with the backing of both u.s. forces and the iranian-backed badr brigade, unleashing six days of bloody combat. then today, sadr announced a new cease-fire after getting guarantees from the maliki government that the mahdi army would not have to turn over its weapons.
put another way: the u.s. failed to get what it wanted. sadr didn't disarm, and he made it clear that neither the u.s. nor its puppet government in baghdad can make it disarm. the maliki government blinked and looked like it will go back to the status quo before its recent offensive. which means the last six days of death and destruction seems to have accomplished exactly nothing.
but somehow the bright lights of the right blogistan claim that this means sadr lost?!?!? i wonder if they were even aware what all this fighting was for.
